MMO's and other PC games are a particular interest of mine. One I spend all too much time doing. Iggep's Blog is where I'll be expressing my thoughts on the various games I play and the industry as a whole.

Thursday, June 18, 2009

XP in BGs

We finally found out and I am optimistically hopeful that this turns out to be a boon for players like myself that have been clamoring for Blizzard to do this ever since WAR hit the streets.

War is an experience that few would choose to have in their lifetimes, and yet, in Azeroth, it is the way of the world as the Horde and Alliance continue to struggle against each other even as more imminent dangers split their focus. It is this experience that forges the novice into the hardened veteran and drives them onward to fame and glory. In Call of the Crusade, the opportunity to gain experience through war will become a reality.

With the upcoming content patch, players will be able to gain experience within the Battlegrounds for completing objectives and actions that yield honor in them. These objectives include (but are not limited to) capturing flags in Warsong Gulch, gaining resources in Eye of the Storm or Arathi Basin, or taking objectives in Alterac Valley. Player level will also affect the amount of experience that can be gained within the battleground.

For those that would like to opt out of gaining experience while in the battleground, you will be able to visit Behsten in Stormwind or Slahtz in Orgrimmar – both located near the battlemasters in either city – and turn off all experience accumulation for the cost of 10 gold. Players with experience gains turned off who compete in Battlegrounds will face off only against other players with experience gains turned off. Behsten and Slahtz can reinstate experience gains for players, for a 10 gold fee of course. Any experience that would’ve been accumulated if experience gains were not turned off cannot be recovered.

This sounds fantastic on the face of it, but with most things the devil will always be in the details. How much XP will we get for each of those objectives? Why not grant XP for each kill? Will everyone get XP for objectives, or only the person that actually accomplished them as some achievements require?

XP via Battlegrounds was the one aspect of WAR that I absolutely liked and I'm encouraged by the fact that Blizzard is finally implementing this too. Ensuring that an adequate amount of XP is earned for each objective, and for participating in PVP will be essential to ensuring this is as popular in WoW as it is in WAR.